


The Lion, The Savior

by SweetSass228



Series: The Expendable One [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Bleeding, Cor is a great dad, Gen, Minor Violence, Poor Prompto, Prompto Whump, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Some Fluff, thank you cor dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 03:22:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13472667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetSass228/pseuds/SweetSass228
Summary: Prompto is all alone, with Pryna as his only companion. When he gets ambushed by the elements, who will come to his aid when he has nobody left?





	The Lion, The Savior

**Author's Note:**

> So I honestly didn't expect to add on to the 'Prompto is sad and alone' fic but I got some ideas on how it could have turned out (and how many characters can chew out the guys for leaving behind the most emotionally-vulnerable member of their party with abandonment issues and self-doubt >:<) 
> 
> I might write like a small series of this with a bunch of other characters helping out Prom in his journey but let me know if you guys wants more cuz you know how much I love crying :') :') :')

Pryna makes the journey a little less lonely. 

 

She cuddles up to him at night when it gets cold and when he wakes up he sees her snout buried into his sleeping bag, her breathing muffled and somehow still loud against the material. When he scratches behind her ear, she tilts her head further and further when he finds the good spot and it makes him smile.

 

It's almost like she knows. And he knows that she's some mystical being from the Gods or something like that, but being comforted by a fluffy dog with loving eyes and whiskers tickling his cheeks with kisses was more than he could hope for.

When his thoughts started corrupting him, when he debated on whether or not to continue walking today or stay at the haven since he didn't have anything to truly _do_ anymore, she was there. She pushed her wet nose against his face and huffed at him until he laughed and pushed her away. That just made her cuddly and playful and extra adorable.

When she's around, she makes his days brighter then they have been in a while. She lets him forget, just for a little while, that without her he would be completely alone. 

Of course, she's still not _entirely_ a real dog. Yeah she walks on four legs, has big dog ears and a dog tail, and she does her business behind the bushes like every other dog. But there are times when he wakes up in the middle of the night and he sees her staring off into the distance at the edge of the haven. He doesn't even say her name and she'll look right at him, with nothing in her eyes but pure whiteness. 

He's never scared of her when she's like this, doesn't feel much of anything when she's like this. He just rolls over and goes back to sleep and when he wakes up again, she's curled up right next to him.

 

And who knows where he might have ended up now if she hadn't shown up two weeks ago.

 

Spending this much time alone on his own, with Pryna as his only companion (one who was incapable of speaking as far as he knew), left him with nothing but his thoughts and the feeling of his healing wounds sometimes pinching when he walked too much or pulled a muscle. 

Feeling the heavy weight of his backpack or not even feeling the vibration in his pocket from a King's Knight notification; it just makes it all too real for Prompto. Like any good feeling Pryna gives him will crash and burn when he's left too long in this crippling silence that's been around for weeks.

 

A harsh reminder that he's not worth much anymore. That he can just be tossed aside by anyone, without so much as a goodbye. It leaves him with the feeling of being a forgotten spirit; he's there but no one can see him or remember him. Almost has him regretting all those years of hard work, trying to better himself and find himself worthy of Prince Noctis' friendship. He knows that it's because of Noctis that he pushed himself to his limits to make himself a better person but.

With no home. No friends. No family. It feels like nothing. 

 

It's like Pryna knows when he's losing himself in this state of mind, because that's when she gets extra cuddly and she licks his face until he's smiling again and playfully pushing her away, only for her to come right back for more kisses.

He feels better when he can wrap his arms around her fluffy body and pull her into his sleeping bag, feel her chest rise and fall with each calming breath she takes. 

Prompto doesn't know if it's just her presence, her mystical aura, or just his loneliness taking pity on him, but Pryna just has this ability to make everything feel so calm. He's always well-aware of the situation, of the silence that overwhelms him, but his body doesn't flood with anxiety and his fingers don't shake when they're hidden in her fur. 

She keeps him sane, in some ways.

 

 

She's also very good at keeping him safe. Traveling through the desert a second time is easier than the first because Prompto can better prepare himself for the heat of the day and the cold of the night. And without his Crownsguard uniform, there's no black leather making him sweat as much and threaten to make him pass out against a rock.

He would count Pryna lucky, since she didn't have such dark fur like Umbra did, but dust and white fur didn't really mix well either. She gave him a very irritated look when she looked back at up him after sniffing the ground and he started giggling because it looked like she had a red dust mustache on her face.

 

Unfortunately, their luck ran out just near sundown. Prompto urged Pryna to trot faster as he tried to find a nearby haven, relying solely on his memory of the last time he was here (and at the same time, pushing away those memories). There was already a handful amount of times the two of them had gotten caught after sundown and long, stressful hours of avoiding daemons and finding safe spaces to hide until sunrise.

 

Just as an empty haven showed up in the distance, something hissing and clicking came from behind Prompto and Pryna's fur stood up as she growled. Prompto pulled his gun from its holster on his belt and turned around at the same time, shooting twice and nailing the Reapertail right in one of its eyes, the other bullet landing in what Prompto hoped was its brain.

Pryna barked and dashed off but Prompto wasn't worried about her, he knew she could handle herself easily in a fight and any wound on her would magically be gone the next day. Just another reminder that this was some sort of Astral being in a dog's body, and yet still very much a dog.

 

Prompto swore under his breath as five more Reapertails started scuttling towards him, the lowering sun just beyond them. His gun had enough bullets to take them out; he was more worried about not having enough time to make it to the haven before Red Giants started pulling themselves out from the darkness.

Three shots were fired and two Reapertails were instantly dead, slumped into the desert sand with their stingers twitching and then drooping completely.

One came up from the side, barely out of Prompto's peripheral vision, and he jumped out of the way on instinct. He hissed in pain as a stinger shot out at him and swiped at his side, cutting through his shirt and blood already seeping out of the wound. He staggered at the sudden rush of pain and heat to his side and lifted his gun once more, watching dark, brown-looking blood spurt from the Reapertail's body as it cried out in pain and then laid still.

Two left. Pryna barked from off to the side and it drew the attention of one of them away from Prompto, but the remaining one seemed fixated on Prompto's blood and charged straight for him. It was faster than any of the others and it jumped straight for him, startling Prompto enough that his grip loosened on his gun and he dropped it as the creature pinned him to the ground.

It hissed in his face and Prompto grimaced at its ugly _everything_ looking directly at him, hands flying out to push its pincers away. His feet came up and with a heavy grunt, Prompto pushed the scorpion monstrosity off of him. He used his sudden advantage to lunge to where his gun landed and fumbled in panic.

The Reapertail tried once more to jump on him, intent on getting to his neck with its sharp pincers, but three good shots to its head and abdomen as it lunged put a stop to it once and for all.

 

For just a few moments, Prompto let himself take a breath on the desert floor, knowing that daemons will start popping up any minute and he needs to get to safety and disinfect the cut on his side.

 

Just as he sits up, his whole body seizes in pain and it startles a shout out of him. Looking down in shock, he sees the tip of the dead Reapertail's stinger stuck in his torso, blood already staining his shirt and the stain growing larger by the second. He's too surprised to do anything but stare at first, chest already starting to heave as he begins to panic.

He has to get it out, he knows he has to. But as soon as his fingers wrap around the tail and lightly tug, he wants to scream at how bad it hurts. The sky is dark now and he's a sitting duck for anything to come along and gobble him up, but he can't move without pain paralyzing him.

 

"P-Pryna..." Through clenched teeth, he tried to get his companion to come to him but there was no sign of her. The Reapertail she had taken care of earlier lay dead in the dirt but Pryna was no where to be seen.

 

At once, a cold grip tightened around his heart, his feelings of abandonment swirling around him and making him feel sick. He tasted the bitter bile at the back of his throat but he swallowed it down, pushing all of his strength towards getting the stinger out of him. He was probably going to die, alone as he expected to, but he didn't want to die pinned to the desert floor by something already dead.

He knew he was screaming, he had to be, but he refused to stop when the stinger was already halfway out. Finally, after what felt like years of endless pain and screaming, the wound suddenly felt hollow and more blood covered Prompto's gloves. Out of pure instinct, his hands went to cover the wound and he swore at the extra sting but he knew that it buy him a few extra moments.

 

Prompto tried to get himself to move but it hurt too much, everything hurt so bad he couldn't move. Tears were rolling down his face from the pain and from his crippling anxiety clawing through his insides. Pryna was gone; she probably fled to safety once she realized he was a lost cause. He was too much trouble to look after anyway. He hoped for her to find Umbra or go back to Luna or even find the other guys, just to keep herself safe. He just wants her safe.

He coughs on something lodged in his throat and he realizes that its his own blood and its starting to choke him. He turns his head to help clear his airway and spots his backpack just a few feet away. He knows he has a potion tucked in there somewhere, he just has to go to it. He tries to crawl there but he can barely move on his side. He tries in vain to reach out to it but nothing works. 

 

He's going to die. As the pain starts to inevitably fade, he knows that he's going to die. He's alone, nearly engulfed by darkness.

And he knows that no one will find him. He doesn't have anything left.

 

Something growls behind him and the ground shakes as the tell-tale signs of a daemon appearing fails to scare him. He can't find it in himself to care anymore when he knows he's going to be dead before it even gets to him. His whole body relaxes as he accepts it, and he closes his eyes after taking a deep breath.

 

" **Prompto!** "

 

~~~

 

When he wakes up, he finds that he's not dead. He's tired, he hurts everywhere, his throat is sore and dry, he's thirsty. But he's alive. He's alive and he knows he shouldn't be.

He tries to sit up but he can't find the strength to. The warmth around him is coming from a sleeping bag and a blanket wrapped around him, and he would be uncomfortable at how hot it is but he's too intrigued as to how he ended up in the sleeping bag anyway. 

There's a medium-sized fire lit somewhere off to the side and he can vaguely see that wherever he is, it's somewhere in a small cave. There's a small entrance way and enough space for a few people but it's still a little claustrophobic for him. Or maybe he could just chalk it up to his never-ending anxiety.

 

Footsteps approach near the entrance and Prompto frantically looks around for his bag or his guns, anything he could use as a weapon to protect himself from whatever is coming. His bag is up against the wall of the cave by the end of his sleeping bag but when he tries to sit up to grab it, he can't move. His abdomen hurts so much that he can't move at all and who or whatever is coming is right at the entrance.

He turns around to face it and he freezes up completely, feeling his breath caught in his throat.

 

"Cor?"

 

The Marshall looks at him with the same neutral expression Prompto always sees but he steps closer to him and crouches down to his level, eyeing Prompto's abdomen as he does so.

"How you feel, kid?"

It takes him a minute to register that Cor said anything but then he blinks and follows Cor's gaze to his stomach, which has been bandaged up and must be the reason why he feels so stiff.

 

"F-Fine. I... I hurt kinda... all over." Prompto mutters, his throat dry and making his voice hoarse.

Cor grins a bit and shakes his head lightly, as if to try and cover it up. "I expected that. Hang on, kid." He stands again and Prompto watches him walk over to the other side of the cave, where a black bag rests in the corner. Prompto wonders how he didn't see it before.

 

Cor pulls out a bottle of water first, and Prompto suddenly yearns to have just a tiny sip for his throat, and a potion before coming back over and setting the potion on the cave floor. He uncaps the water and carefully hands it over to Prompto, who is dismayed to see his fingers shaking as he reaches for it.

"Slow sips, don't make yourself sick." Cor advises as he very carefully and gently helps Prompto sit up just a little further, so he can drink and not make himself choke. He watches the blond's eye slip closed as he drinks very slowly, stopping only once to cough but Cor is proud when he finishes the bottle.

 

"I gotta keep watch for daemons. When you start feeling more pain, take this potion and you'll feel better. Get some rest, kid." Cor lightly pats Prompto's shoulder before standing again and disappearing through the way he came.

 

Prompto watches him go and he instantly feels the tug on his heart, the little nagging voice telling him that he's not coming back and Prompto is going to be left alone again. But he pushes those thoughts away and looks down at the potion on the cave floor. He feels better now that he's had something to drink but he knows he would feel a thousand times better if he took that potion. His torso feels like it's on fire and he can feel the tingling pain going up and down his body. If he takes that potion, the pain will go away.

 

But... what if Cor needs it more? What if there's too many daemons and Cor ends up seriously hurt and needed this potion more than he did? Cor shouldn't waste this on him, not when he himself could use it.

 

Prompto picks up the potion (ignoring the cool rush of healing magic he feels when he touches it) and sets it off to the side, where it won't accidentally get crushed or broken. Then he lays down and tries to fall back asleep, in an attempt to drown out the pain.

 

 

When he wakes up again, Cor is sitting opposite of him right up against the cave wall, dawn light streaming in through the slim entrance of wherever Cor has them set up. 

He looks up when he notices Prompto stirring in his sleeping bag.

"Kid, you okay?" He asks but Prompto doesn't even seem aware that he's being spoken to. His eyes are unfocused and his skin was paler than Cor usually saw.

"You didn't take your potion. You alright?" Cor tries once more, glancing at the untouched potion still sitting beside him. He leans forward to see if Prompto will respond again but the blond boy just blinks once and doesn't move. Disheartened, Cor looks away and focuses his attention on the entrance, as if something might pop up and attack at any random moment.

 

"Kid, you-"

"Why did you save me?"

 

The question catches him offguard and Cor looks up again, finding Prompto looking straight at him with the same dead-eyed look on his face. He's so surprised that he can't answer at first, but he's Cor the Immortal so he shakes it off and gets back to business.

"You were bleeding out and an Iron Giant would have cleaved you in half if I hadn't gotten to you first. Couldn't just let you die out there, kid."

 

Prompto blinks at him again and looks down at Cor's shoe, but Cor is patient and waits for him to speak again.

 

"Why did you bother?"

 

The question is so quiet it's almost inaudible. Prompto avoids looking into Cor's eyes as he says it and Cor thinks he can see Prompto's eyes shimmering with unshed tears from where he's sitting. This question doesn't startle Cor as much as the previous but it's still unsettling to hear, and in such a quiet, uneasy tone.

 

"Prompto." Cor started, leaning forward and waiting until Prompto finally looked up at his face, looking like a wounded animal or a child about to be punished for misbehaving. "Why were you alone out there?"

 

Prompto hesitates, opens his mouth to respond, but nothing comes out. He makes a strained noise in his throat and then he's crumbling. Curling in on himself while biting back heavy tears that finally fall. He tries to hide it by burying himself in his blanket but it's too painfully obvious now.

The blond always held some special spot in Cor's heart, either from his history and how Cor knew who he was or just how far he had come in life. He'd gotten dealt a shitty hand and yet he still tried to make something out of it. Cor had volunteered himself to help Prompto train before the official trip to Altissia went underway and he remembered the sort of pride he felt when Prompto got his first bulls-eye with the gun and looked at his mentor with a huge grin on his face.

Seeing him now, wrapped up in bandages, exhausted, crying his eyes out with none of his friends in sight. It does more than just hurt.

 

With a small but heavy sounding sigh, Cor stood and made his way to Prompto's side of their shelter, sitting down near his head and placing a gentle hand on the unruly, greasy blond locks in an attempt to comfort him. He felt the boy flinch under his touch but it was overcome with uncontrollable trembling as he cried harder, trying to muffle himself by hiding himself in his sleeping bag.

Cor couldn't do much but wait until Prompto got it out of his system, running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to comfort him. It took a while for him to quiet down, to the point where Cor thought he'd fallen asleep again but the uneasy shaking of his shoulders gave him away.

 

"Prompto," Cor tried once more in a very gentle tone, not wanting to trigger another breakdown that would just further exhaust the boy. "Can you tell me why you were alone at night?"

 

He was met with silence once more until Prompto sniffed and tried to curl up further, to the point where Cor thought he was trying to make himself disappear.

 

"They're... They're gone." Instantly, Cor thinks of the worst and his hand stops its movements in his hair.

"Prompto. Is the Prince okay?"

 

"W-What? Oh, they're not... U-um, no they're... They're okay. I-I think." His voice screams his exhaustion to the world and Cor feels bad for making him talk more but he needs more information.

 

"You still haven't answered my question, kid." He asks because he needs to hear it but his assumptions are already drawing conclusions.

 

Prompto is silent again but Cor is willing to wait until he's ready. When he spotted the familiar looking blond laying in the dirt, covered in his own blood with a gaping wound in his stomach and surrounded by daemons ready to tear into vulnerable prey, Cor felt that spike of fear he hated so much. Fear wasn't something that could easily get to the Immortal but seeing him and assuming that he was already dead before he could get to him-

 

Cor took a deep breath through his nose and focused on comforting Prompto, who was working up the nerve to speak again.

 

"I... I was holding them back. W-We agreed that we couldn't let a-anything stop us from getting the Crystal back and..." Prompto trails off again and Cor feels his body quacking under his hand. "I-It was my f-fault. Noctis got hurt b-because of me and... they were gone. B-but I know that it's for the better b-because I-I didn't want to mess things up again. They-They're better off w-without me." He's in tears again by the time he's done talking and he feels the fingers going through his hair stop at once.

 

Cor must see it now too. How fucking useless he really is. How pathetic he is crying over what he knew was going to happen eventually. They'd all been in agreement on what to do when things got serious and Insomnia was lost and Prompto agreed and ignored the rocks that sat in his stomach. He knew it would be him; Gladio and Ignis were professional Crownsguard members who had trained nearly all their lives to protect their prince and Noctis had the blessings of both the Crystal and the Astrals. 

Prompto had a gun, a month's worth of training, and reckless courage that didn't do shit in the real world.

And now Cor the Immortal is watching him fall apart and realizing that saving him was a mistake. He should have left Prompto for the daemons, he shouldn't have wasted his time on this useless waste of space. Cor could have been out, finding more Royal Arms for Noctis or fending off the Niffs still in Insomnia. Not saving a worthless commoner who thought he could actually be someone, someone who actually deserved friends, someone who deserved family, someone who deserved meaning. 

He was just so useless and terrible and _why does he waste everyone's time?_

 

Prompto can't stop crying. He tries but he can't stop himself. He pulls the sleeping bag up to cover his face so Cor doesn't have to look at him and just cries. His throat is burning and he's making himself dehydrated but he can't help it. His wounds ache and sting which just makes it worse but he can't make himself stop crying and Cor has probably already left, disgusted by how pathetic Prompto is.

 

He's trembling all over and he's just so tired he wants to fall asleep and never wake up again. But there's movement beside him and a hand lightly touches his side, making him flinch from the sensitivity of his wounds.

"Prompto. Can you sit up for me?"

 

He's scared to show his face to Cor, half-convinced that he's just hearing things and he's finally going insane, but the hand on his side is still there and he can feel its warmth. He very slowly pulls the sleeping bag away from his face and takes a breath before looking up at Cor.

The Marshall has a fairly neutral expression on his face but when Prompto looks up, he gives him a gentle smile and the hand on his side moves to his shoulder to help him, very slowly sit up.

 

He reaches beside him and grabs another water bottle. He gives it to Prompto, silently ordering him to drink, and checks over the bandages while Prompto hydrates himself. When he's done, Cor takes the empty water bottle and replaces it with the neglected potion.

"Prompto, take this. It'll heal you up and you'll feel better." When Prompto hesitates, Cor puts his hands over his and gently pushes the potion towards him. "You need this. You need to get better." He insists and whatever look Cor gives him must do the trick because Prompto's fingers tighten around the potion and it breaks, blue swirls of magic moving through his body and Cor sees how his body relaxes just a little.

 

"Alright, good. That's good, Prompto. Now, I want you to lay down and get some rest. You need it." Cor gives his shoulder a light, almost affectionate pat, and stands. Something compels him to look back and when he does, he sees Prompto watching him, like he's afraid he's going to disappear and leave him there.

"I'm just going to step outside for a moment. I'll be here when you wake up. Alright?" He waits until Prompto nods and lays back down before walking outside their little cave and walking a little ways away from the entrance.

 

~~~

 

" _Scientia._ "

 

"Would you care to explain why I just found Argentum half-dead in the desert and alone, Ignis?"

 

There's silence on the other line but Cor has a surprising amount of patience today.

" _Is he alright?_ "

"Well, there's a gaping hole in his stomach from a Reapertail stinger that's trying to heal itself. Not to mention the trauma of being abandoned by his King and companions."

There's another gap of silence and Cor switches the phone to his other ear.

" _Marshal, I-_ "

"I don't give a shit what kind of excuse you have, Scientia. Insomnia is still burning, the Niffs have the Crystal, and King Regis is dead. And you thought it was a good idea to just leave one of our own behind?!" Cor pauses just to see if Prompto probably heard that but goes right back to his phone, taking a few steps away just in case he was heard.

 

"I couldn't help but notice that his phone is gone as well. Did you take it?"

" _...Yes._ "

"So, you left him alone, in territory that is being slowly taken over by Niflheim troops and the highest amount of daemons ever recorded spawning at nightfall, with no magic and no possible way to contact anyone if he was in danger?"

No response, as expected.

"Ignis."

" _I'm still here, Marshal._ "

"Then answer me."

 

...

 

" _Yes. We agreed that it would be easier to... cut ties, if there were no reminders._ " There's a brief pause in the call but Cor can hear the inhale on the other line as Ignis prepares to speak again. " _Marshal, please understand. We didn't want it to have to come to this. But... Prompto is... He's..._ " 

It's very rare that Ignis is ever out of words but Cor wants to hear his defense (even if it is bullshit).

" _He's never had the training that the rest of us had and... His Highness was getting himself hurt coming to Prompto's aid. We truly didn't want to, Marshal. But we had no choice. Don't think that our decision came from some sort of prejudice against him. Prompto is our friend, but-_ "

 

"And what if he was dead? What if he died, alone on his own? Did you ever think about that?"

He doesn't get a response for that but Cor doesn't even let him try.

 

"I don't want to hear any of your bullshit excuses, Ignis. Don't try and tell me that you did it unwillingly, that he was your friend. No one held you at gunpoint and forced you to make a choice. If you thought that he could make it on his own, with just him and his gun, then you wouldn't have left him behind in the first place. So don't tell me you regret it, that you're _fucking sorry_ for what happened."

Cor hadn't actually wanted that to come out but it got the message across that he was pissed off and judging by the silence, it worked.

 

" _May I speak to him?_ "

 

"He's resting right now. He's still healing and I'm trying to get him to rest before I move him."

 

"... _Will you please watch over him?_ "

"Not the first time I've done your job, Scientia. It won't be the last. Get to Lestallum. If I find anything on the Niffs or the Royal Arms, I'll let the Prince know." 

 

Cor ends the call before Ignis can say anything else and pockets his phone, pinching the bridge of his nose to try and hold back the headache that will inevitably rear it's ugly head soon.

 

Something scratches across the rocks and Cor tenses as he turns, fingers ready to summon his katana against any wild animal that got too curious. Instead, he sees a white wolf with strange markings around its face and a bandanna wrapped around its front paw. It stares at him for a few moments before turning its head towards the cave, nose twitching in the air as it catches a scent. It looks back at him and blinks once, one paw lifting and curling as it sniffs the air in his direction. Apparently he wasn't a threat to it because it lowers its paw and tilts its head at him

It starts padding toward the cave and Cor knows he should be stopping it because its a wild animal and Prompto is in there but something tells him not to worry and that there's no danger. His fingers relax as he hears Prompto's sleepy voice mumbling from inside the cave.

 

"Hey there, girl. Where'd you go? I was worried about you. 'M glad you're safe."

 

When Cor walks back inside, the white wolf is curled up to Prompto's side and one of his arms is wrapped around her, face buried into her soft-looking fur as he sleeps.

**Author's Note:**

> Complimentary tissues on the way out... :')
> 
> also I finished this at 2 am and there are most definitely spelling errors and such if you guys could let me know if you see one that would be gret
> 
> Thanks for reading!! (im sorry)


End file.
